


Saving Each Other

by okoriwadsworth



Series: Saving Each Other [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26534530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okoriwadsworth/pseuds/okoriwadsworth
Summary: After Barry Allen saved her, what did Dinah Laurel Lance do? Where did she go?
Relationships: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen
Series: Saving Each Other [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929484
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Saving Each Other

(Author’s note: This is a direct sequel to _Saving You For Once_. If you wondered what Laurel was doing during those 5 years away, this is what. I hope you enjoy.)

 ** _In a small convent in the mangroves of Indonesia_** ….

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(Laurel Lance’s POV)

It had been a long travel for Dinah Laurel Lance to get here. 24 hours, with layovers in San Francisco, and Tokyo, before landing in Jakarta. Then, upon asking for the name of the person she was looking for to the first native Indonesian she could find, another 10-hour bus trip deep into the rural heart of the country on a bus that was so rickety it was a miracle it didn’t rust out and explode before being dropped off in the mangroves and told to go north. She still didn’t quite know why that man made of lightning had given her this paper and told her to go here, but if Oliver needed this, she would do it. right now, in this moment, she wanted to believe Oliver was still alive, just suffering through his own trials as the man made of lightning implied he would have to. And if that were true, and she prayed to god that it was, doing this was going to be helpful to her as both a distraction, and the chance to make herself better.

Laurel could understand that she wasn’t always the most pleasant and agreeable person to be around. She had utilized that relentless work ethic and insane desire to have everything be just so to go from a middling middle-school student into her class valedictorian in high school, a winner of the Queen\Merlyn dual scholarship to study Law at UW-Starling City where she was a member of the Order of the Coif, and now a lawyer for a local non-profit. But, and this she could admit to herself, that same intensity also made her a demanding girlfriend. Oliver could always be the one to calm her, but he wasn’t here now.

And so, she supposed, this would be a good thing to give her some emotional balance. This meditation retreat she had been sent off on would be a good thing for her, she thought. A chance to find a balance, where she wasn’t always the hammer in perpetual search for a nail.

But as she walked through the front door of the convent, she suddenly got the sense that she may have been wrong. For there wasn’t soothing, vaguely eastern-inspired music playing here. Instead, she heard heavy percussion music and saw one lit torch after another lighting her way to the main entrance to the convent. But as she made her way through, she noticed something else. Everyone here looked like they had just gotten through fighting. Ribs were taped up, there were bandages over facial cuts, and even a few taped-up shins. She realized that this couldn’t be a meditation retreat. It looked like a fighting camp, and she suddenly felt intensely out of place.

What had the man made of lightning sent her to?

(Lady Shiva’s POV)

The bolt of golden-rod colored lightning who flew through here had been too fast for Lady Shiva to track. That, saying that out loud, was a sign to her that there was a part of her world that she very much needed to make sure she never entered. It was better for her, simpler, to simply continue to walk on the path of becoming the best hand-to-hand fighter and teacher in the world. But that bolt did leave a note behind. Apparently, and this impudence she would not have countenanced if she could have grabbed the bolt, she would have a new student. This was not something that was normally done.

But the reason for the new student struck even someone as cold-hearted as Lady Shiva was. Apparently, the bolt had made it clear that she would be helping to guide two lovers to one another. She would be ensuring that a woman who had the spirit to be a true fighter, someone that had the spirit to be her **equal** , would finally have the skills. If this were true, and this Dinah Laurel Lance was doing it all for love, that was something that she would love to see.

**_Meanwhile, in Central City…._ **

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(Barry Allen’s POV)

He had done everything he could. It was up to her, and them, now.

But he knew, in his soul, that if there was anyone in the world who could survive the trials that they needed to so that they became the people they were supposed to, it was them. He had met Laurel once or twice in person, and heard the way Oliver talked about her when he thought no one was listening. Theirs was a love, even though they had never been able to have it in the way they deserved, that was as strong as steel. And if he had to say goodbye to the life he had, the love he had built, in order to give that same love to someone who had been a role model, and an older brother, to him was the easiest choice he could have ever made.

He had always known Laurel had the spirit to be a true hero, to join Oliver in being the standard others in Starling City would live up to. And if he could make it so that she had the skills to go with that spirit, he would make that choice a thousand times over.

He had made himself a promise, though, that he would interfere no further. Sure, he knew where Lian Yu was now. Same for the convent where Laurel was training. It would have been very easy for him to sneak in to either one of those places and reunite them with each other, but he knew he shouldn’t.

He didn’t much think of himself as a paragon anymore. Too much weirdness had happened since that whole Crisis thing, where he had watched Oliver die and then built an entire earth with only his thoughts, to ever believe himself capable of fully understanding the vagaries and randomness of love.

But the one thing he did know, the one thing that he had to rely on, was that Oliver and Laurel would come to each other in their own times.

**_Meanwhile, back in the Indonesian rainforest…._ **

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(Laurel Lance’s POV)

Whatever bright idea the man made of lightning had suddenly seemed stupid now. For when she had walked into the main area of the convent, she was greeted with what her time watching martial arts films told her was a question mark kick. Trouble was, she couldn’t see who had thrown it. The kick was so fast, and so powerful, that it literally felt like she had been hit by someone invisible. But as her vision cleared, she saw her and knew why it was that the man in lightning had told her Oliver required her attendance at this place. Because in front of her was a woman with almost statuesque calm.

This was someone who did not know the meaning of the word stubborn, she could just tell. And so, even despite the stinging pain in her jaw and her split lip, Dinah Laurel Lance did what she knew was right, and smart. She kneeled, and waited to either be beaten into unconsciousness or taught.

“Are you the woman the bolt sent to me? The one who has come to my convent, to be trained in my ways, for no other reason than because true love has guided you here?” this mysterious woman says, and despite knowing next to nothing about this person, Laurel feels it utterly prudent to answer truthfully. After all, she had literally been kicked with a blow that was textbook-perfect from someone she never saw throw the strike.

“Yes, I am. Even though I did not have the man made of lightning write the letter, he did request I come here. My love, the man I have sworn my soul to, is on a mission of his own. And I was told that coming here, and submitting myself to your instruction, was the best thing that I could do to make sure that when he returns to my arms again, I can be the woman he needs” Laurel said, feeling tears coming to her eyes at the notion that Oliver is off somewhere and she cannot help him. That was the worst part of this whole thing, she realized. Oliver could be anywhere, going through any number of herculean trials, and she could not help him.

(Lady Shiva’s POV)

This was a new experience. Most of her students came to her out of a desire to be better fighters, or because they had heard of her imposing reputation. It was a usual motivation, and one that she understood. But this? This was different. This was about a positive thing, even if it was an emotion she could not make herself understand fully.

To learn how to fight, to be willing to be fully trained in all her ways, purely for the notion of love and being a better ally to the man who holds her heart? This was something she had to encourage, if only because she still believed that there would be a point where the strength that love was giving her would fade.

So, knowing that, she began to appraise what was in front of her. First off, she needed to get in much better shape. That damnable American diet, what with its reliance on fried foods and an overabundance of carbohydrates, had given her someone who she was convinced could not run a mile, much less do dragon flags or any of the other bodyweight exercises she demanded her new students do in addition to weight training.

Secondly, the girl needed fight awareness and skill training. If she could not see that it had been Sensei Elang who had kicked her, master as he was in the Indonesian style of pencak silat, this was going to be a real problem.

Finally, she needed to make sure the girl developed a killer instinct. Even now, on her knees and waiting to hear what her fate was, Shiva could quite easily tell that she would not be necessarily ready to fight her way out of here if she decided the girl’s life was forfeit. This would not do, either.

But she did notice something positive. She could tell that there was a desire to learn, a hunger to know more and more about what this place truly was. That pleased her. She would take instruction well, and demand more of it. This was a good thing.

So then, Lady Shiva realized, it was done. If she was not going to kill her, she would have to train her.

**_The next morning…._ **

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(Laurel Lance’s POV)

This was a whole new life that she was in, and that was clear now. Because, while her old life would have meant writing briefs and preparing arguments, this new one had her waking up at what felt like the absolute butt-crack of dawn and enjoying a traditional Indonesian breakfast before walking into a wooded area and immediately watching as she was instructed to make a fist and then throw a punch.

All of this, every last gram of it, was nothing like she would have imagined. But if Oliver needed this, needed her to become a warrior, she would. Because she could feel in her chest, like a 2nd heartbeat in addition to her own, that Oliver was alive. And so when he returned to her, she would be strong for him. She would use this time to cultivate her own strength, to grow and mold it until she could be there for him.

Because, she needed him like she needed air to breathe. So she would throw herself into this task, throw herself into being his partner in all things.

Standing in front of her trainer, a quiet man named Richard Diaz, she immediately threw a punch and yelped despite herself when this fellow simply grabbed her hand and blocked the punch before it even got there. This was going to be a long day.

**_Five years later….._ **

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(Laurel Lance’s POV)

As she finished her final preparations to head back home, Dinah Laurel Lance looked at herself in the mirror and didn’t realize what she saw.

She saw a woman of strength, confidence, and calm. It had been five years training in this place, and she had discovered so many things about herself that she didn’t know where to begin. For one, she had become a world-class martial artist.

Lady Shiva and Ricardo Diaz had taught her everything they knew, and that was quite a lot. They had started her small with Kung Fu and Wing Chun, simple styles that had flowed through American popular culture due to Bruce Lee and the martial arts craze of the 70’s and 80’s. Once she had shown them that she knew what she was doing there, they added Muay Thai, taekwondo, hapkido, and some judo and jiu-jitsu for ground work. And everything they taught her, every blow and hold, she sucked up. If, when she got back, Oliver needed her to be something like a warrior, she would be.

The next thing was that Laurel had found serenity and focus. It had been meditation, guided cognitive behavioral therapy, and yoga that had made her see her stubbornness as a weapon to be loosed only at the right times. When she got back, she would be a better lawyer for being able to be flexible and skilled in the arts of persuasion.

Finally, she found that she had gotten herself in insane shape and developed a new eye for nutrition. Those jokes that Oliver and Tommy had made about her being unable to boil water were both hurtful, and more accurate than she wished them to be. So, with the aid of the convent’s head cook, she learned how to cook in the Pan-Asian style. It had been 3 months, after every training session, where she had learned how to just cook rice. She was trusted with nothing but rice, until she could easily tell the difference between the jasmine rice of southeast Asia and the sushi rice of Japan.

Eventually, though, she mastered stir-fries, Korean barbecue, and every curry from Southeast Asia. She was going to go back and be able to take care of herself, to not rely on anyone to make sure she ate healthy and nutritious food.

And then, there was the condition she had found herself in. Sure, martial arts had helped with this. But Shiva had been adamant that a warrior who did not have strength and agility was no warrior at all. So she got acquainted with a barbell, and learned body control and bodyweight exercises from former world champion gymnasts. Soon, she could do dragon flags, had a 12-pack of abs, and was edging dangerously close to a 245-kg back squat and 225-kg deadlift.

But today, it was over. Today, she was done. Her love had been rescued, and was headed to Hong Kong. She would be there to meet him, to show him the love she knew he would need.

It was time for her to be what Lady Shiva called her, _“Hēijīn sī què”_ or the Black Canary. And it was time to do it alongside Ollie. The man made of lightning had told her she would need to save Oliver. It was time to get started. 


End file.
